Julian Bond, chairman emeritus of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, joined anchor Thomas Roberts on MSNBC on Tuesday where he said that he did not believe the federal government was complicit in any wrongdoing given the news that the Internal Revenue Service singled out conservative groups for added scrutiny. He said that it is right of the government to look into the Tea Party, which he called “overtly racist” and the “Taliban wing of American politics.” Bond made these comments after noting that his group was illegitimately targeted by the IRS in 2004.

Bond said that his group was singled out by the IRS in 2004 after he delivered a political speech critical of President George W. Bush. Though his organization was later cleared, Bond said that his group was “unfairly targeted.”

However, Bond said that there are no parallels between that case and the charge that the IRS devoted undue scrutiny to conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.